From a commodity-based agricultural country in the 1960s and 1970s to one of the most industrialised nations in Asia – could the term ‘agriculture’ be outdated in Malaysia?
Khairudin Mohamad is a classic example of a rag-to-rich success story. This farmer is currently driving a Nissan Frontier 4×4 and earns an average of RM10,000 (US$2,600) a month, a great amount of money in the underdeveloped Malaysian east coast state of Terengganu, where he hails from. The eldest of eight siblings, Khairudin started farming 13 years ago right after school. “I had no choice. I never fancied working for someone else,” he reminisces. Starting with a modest half acre of land inherited from his parents, he now oversees a vegetable plantation on his 100-acre farm. With three tractors and water pumps worth more than RM600,000 (US$158,000), who would ever have thought that this 31-year-old lad had never had a formal agricultural foundation. “I learned from experienced,” he says unassumingly.
Khairudin is just an example of how the Farmers’ Organisation Authority (FOA) has contributed to the government’s success in reducing the incidence of poverty amongst rural farmers. According to sources from the Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry (MOA), the national incidence of poverty has dropped to 5.1 per cent in 2002. out of this national average, the incidence of poverty in rural areas is 11.4 per cent compared to 2 per cent in the urban. The percentage of hardcore poor – those earning less than RM265 (US$70) per month – is 2.3 per cent in rural areas compared to 0.4 per cent in the cities.
Dato’ Nozir Ahmad Hussain, FOA’s director general, claimed that the authority has succeeded in organising small-scale farmers like Khairudin into a network of 268 area Farmers Organisations (FOs) with a total membership of 666,186 farmers throughout the country, contributing “to the attainment of society restructuring”.
Prior to the formation of the FOA and Fos in 1973, there were 1,531 agro-based cooperative societies and 119 associations serving farmers in rural areas. An organisation specifically responsible for the economic and social welfare of farmers was inexistent. The Act 109 – under the Farmers’ Organisations Act 1973 – was enacted to specifically reorganise farmers’ associations and agro-based cooperatives. Farmers’ associations were dissolved to re-register as FOs and cooperatives were reorganised to become its member units. Concurrently, Act 110 was also enacted, resulting in the formation of the FOA in 14 February 1973, with a vision to become a management agent of excellence for FOs and commercial member farmers.
If one were to trace Malaysia’s significant transformation – from a commodity-based agricultural country in the 1960s and 1970s to one of the most industrialised nations in Asia – te term ‘agriculture’ may seem a little bit passé. Could it be still relevant? “Of course it is,” stresses Mariam Mas Yaacob, director of Farmers’ Entrepreneurs Development attached under FOA. After all, according to her, 47 per cent of Malaysians are still living in rural areas. “And most of them are farmers,” she says. 81.5 per cent of Fos’ members are made up of these farmers.
FOA falls under the purview of the recently renamed Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry – from Ministry of agriculture – headed by Tan Sri Muhyiddin Yassin. With a strong wind of change blowing across the landscape of agricultural food sub-sector, a redefinition in the ministry’s direction is inevitable.
Tan Sri Muhyiddin, himself likened the story of Malaysia’s agricultural sector to Charles Dickens’ The Tale of Two Cities. He claimed that the agricultural food sub-sector “always lags” behind industrial crop sub-sectors comprising of palm oil, rubber and timber. As a result of this uneven development between the commodity and agricultural food sub-sector, about 80 per cent of the 4.06 million hectares of agriculture land is cultivated with industrial crops – rubber, palm-oil, cocoa and coconut. The total export earnings from the agricultural sector was RM36.3 billion (US$9.6 billion), of which 78.6 per cent came from palm oil, saw logs and sawn timber. The industrial crops contributed 61 per cent compared with 39 per cent of agricultural food crops.
One of FOA’s corporate plans is to create 5,000 farmer entrepreneurs by 2005, who will contribute towards the national food production. “And we are achieving that [target],” she says confidently.
In 2003, the agricultural sector contribution to Malaysia’s GDP was estimated to be RM19.5 billion (US$5.1 billion). “[Agriculture] is no longer a subsistence, [it means] business,” she says. The US, Mariam says, is one of the perfect examples of how Malaysia should resegment its agricultural sector. “Five per cent [of Americans] are farmers,” she says, “but [this amount is] enough to feed 95 per cent of their population.” However, Mariam is quick to caution that this scenario will never happen in Malaysia, unless one realises the potential of agricultural as a profit-making industry. “[How do you expect to attract people] to come into agriculture if it does not give a good return?” she questions.
She definitely has a point there. How many kids grow up, persisting that they want to be a farmer? The profession suffer from an unjustifiable social stigma. One only has to look at the current trend of fresh graduates going jobless rather than venturing into agricultural activities. The proverbial blood, sweat and tears is considered démodé. “[That is why] we are trying to glamourise agriculture,” says Mariam matter-of-factly. Greenhouses, hydroponic indoor farming and fully air-conditioned hen houses are some of the latest technologies implemented in today’s state- of-the-art farming. “[With these modern facilities], young graduates may not even have to worry about working under the sun.”
Mariam points out that modern farmers are fast becoming to well-planned activities, which have resulted in a tremendous increase of productivity. “Imagine if you rear 50,000 chicks with a net profit of RM1 per bird. You get RM50,000 (US$13,000) in a cycle of 35 days.” Multiply that by 12 months and you will understand why some farmers have been spotted driving a sparkling new Mercedes-Benz.
These successful Malaysian farmers from an elitist club called Kelab Usahawan Tani Malaysia (Entrepreneurial Farmers Club of Malaysia – KUAT –a jeu de mots for “strength”), launched in 2002 by then Minister of Agriculture Datuk Mohd Effendi Norwawi. Claiming that the club “would allow its members to create forums for discussion,” he emphasised that KUAT entrepreneurs could act as an agro high-tech catalysts. “They can even brave globalisation – provided that they have an open mind and the willingness to change and work hard in a team,” he said.
The mentor-mentee programme promoted under KUAT is only one of the many ways the club is assisting its members. “Those, who are well established, will then help five other people but under their supervision,” explains Mariam. Under the programme, an entrepreneur, whose products are proudly displayed on supermarket shelves for instance, will share his thoughts and experience with this mentees.
Training is not solely limited to KUAT members. As a management agency, one of FOA’s roles is to provide training for its staff and farmers. “[We realise that] marketing is one of the problems faced by small farmers,” she says. “That is why we propose product development and training.” The courses organised by FOA cover technical aspects such as estate management leadership and motivational courses and study tours within and out of the country.
In a country where about 90 per cent of the traditional farming is dominated by uneconomic-sized farms operated by smallholders, the FOA has a huge responsibility – not only to make a paradigm shift amongst Malaysian farmers, but also to make the agricultural food sub-sector stand on par with the industrial crops sub-sector. As the director of Farmer’s Entrepreneur Development, Mariam is determined to inject a new mentality within this mass. “You cannot talk about a tree without [referring to its roots],” she says.
“These people need to be trained so as to make them ready to take up challenges.” In the meantime, young and successful farmers like Khairudin will continue to prove that Malaysia’s agricultural food sub-sector is steadily undergoing a holistic transformation into a modern and dynamic farming sector.
Functions of FOA
- To promote, stimulate, facilitate and undertake economic and social development of FOs.
- To register, control and supervise FOs.
- To plan and undertake agricultural development within Farmers’ Development Area.
- To control and coordinate performance of the aforesaid activities.
Roles of the Farmers’ Organisation Authority (FOA) and Farmers’ Organisations (FOs)
In line with the directive of the Minister of Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry, the major roles of the FOA and FOs for the 8th Malaysia Plan are:
- Mobilising farmers to cultivate various crops endorsed by the Ministry of Agriculture.
- Providing necessary organisational structure and staffing to coordinate various departments and agencies services towards agricultural production projects to be implemented under the MOA Inc.
- Coordinating various services to members of the FOs, who are involved in the agricultural production projects financed by the FOA, or planned and managed by the FOs.
- FOs to function as ‘services centres’, where service providers will channel services required by their farmer members. ‘Services providers’ are the various government departments and agencies providing services – such as extension and supplies – which have been identified by the Ministry of Agriculture and Agro-Based Industry.
Various Agencies Under the MOA
- Farmers Organisation Authority (FOA)
- Department of Agriculture (DOA)
- Department of Veterinary Services (DVS)
- Department of Fisheries (DOF)
- Federal Agriculture Marketing Authority (FAMA)
- Lembaga Kemajuan Ikan Malaysia (LKIM)
- Kemubu Agriculture Development Authority (KADA)
- Muda Agriculture Development Authority (MADA)
- Malaysia Agriculture Research and Development Institute (MARDI)
- Jabatan Parit dan Saliran (JPS)
- Bank Pertanian Malaysia (BPM)
**This article was first published in The Halal Journal May/Jun 2005 edition, and was written by Remi Yahya-Ishmael.
